Battle for Iraq refinery as U.S. hesitates to strike

Iraqi government forces battled Sunni rebels for control of the country’s biggest refinery on Thursday as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waited for a U.S. response to an appeal for air strikes to beat back the threat to Baghdad. The sprawling Baiji refinery, 130 miles north of the capital near Tikrit, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shi’ite-led government held off insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its allies who had stormed the perimeter a day earlier, threatening national energy supplies. Related Video: Iraq fights militants around refinery Photos: Sectarian violence splits Iraq Panicked refugees pour out of Pakistan’s Waziristan Photos Photos: Images of…

Battle for Iraq refinery as U.S. hesitates to strike

Iraqi government forces battled Sunni rebels for control of the country’s biggest refinery on Thursday as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waited for a U.S. response to an appeal for air strikes to beat back the threat to Baghdad. The sprawling Baiji refinery, 130 miles north of the capital near Tikrit, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shi’ite-led government held off insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its allies who had stormed the perimeter a day earlier, threatening national energy supplies. Related Video: Iraq fights militants around refinery Photos: Sectarian violence splits Iraq Panicked refugees pour out of Pakistan’s Waziristan Photos Photos: Images of…